Let me preface this episode with this statement: I don’t want you think thinking I’ve gone soft. But this is pretty sad. I’m not going to celebrate the shooting of a thug in this one. A teenage girl, who clearly has some severe mental issues provoked a police officer into shooting her by charging at him with a knife. Before hand she begged him to shoot her. He responded by putting distance between himself and the knife wielding teen. But she had suicide on her mind and was hell bent on making him do the deed for her.
Oxnard police release body cam footage of officer-involved shooting
OXNARD, Calif. – The Oxnard Police Department released footage from the body camera of an officer who fired multiple shots at a female teen with a knife last week.
The suspect was shot last Friday after callers reported she was waving a knife in the parking lot behind businesses located at 408 N. Rose Ave. A caller told dispatch that the teen “seems disturbed” and may have a gun.
Officer Timothy Roberts arrived on scene and the video shows he made multiple verbal commands to the woman to drop the knife. She repeatedly refused to drop the knife and told the officer to shoot her. The officer continued backing up through the parking lot when the teen charged at him and he fired multiple shots at her.
A second officer that pulled up to the scene was retrieving a less lethal “bean bag” shotgun from his vehicle when the shots were fired. The second officer never fired his weapon.
Sadly, the second officer didn’t arrive in time and the officer felt he had to defend himself against the troubled teen.
The responding officers immediately rendered aid to the 17-year-old after she was shot.
And like so many other attempted teen suicides, and suicide attempts in general, this appears to have been a call for help. A misguided signal to someone, anyone . . . “Hey! Pay attention to me! I’m fucked up and I need help!” as she immediately apologized to the officers while on the ground being cuffed.
Due to the teen’s age, her name is being withheld and audio is edited from the video to remove identifiable information. Her face has also been blurred.
The teen was holding a large kitchen knife (pictured above). Investigators determined that multiple calls made to the Oxnard Police Department’s dispatch center came from the phone that was in the woman’s possession. Investigator’s also say there’s evidence that the woman deliberately intended to be shot by police.
Video may be disturbing for some
Yeah. This is maybe the one time I will ever agree with that statement. It is disturbing. But what is not disturbing is how the officer who fired tried his best to prevent from shooting, and how quickly and calmly they rendered first aid to this misguided and troubled child. Thank you to these officers for saving this life. Maybe this incident will be a new beginning for this kid. When I was younger I used to think I wanted to be a cop. Looking watching events such as these unfold makes me think I made the right decision in career moves. God bless our LEOs.
If you are struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, help is available for you. Contact the National Suicide Prevention Life at 1-800-273-8255, 24 hours everyday.
Some people may think I’m a blood-thirsty monster who loves seeing bad guys get what’s coming to them. And yeah, that’s correct. I love that shit. But I have a heart too. And I don’t consider this young one to be a thug. She hadn’t harmed anyone previously, she was just suffering. Two of my close friends committed suicide. I know what that pain feels like. Fortunately they at least took their lives by their own and didn’t force a cop into doing it for them. At least this situation turned out as well as it could have.
